Top 5 Nostalgic Ships

The prompt this week is to "discuss the first fictional couples you ever got butterflies over, or couples you used to be really into when you were younger" which is super interesting to me because my taste in ships has completely changed over time! 

1. Katniss and Peeta

The absence of any acceptable ship name aside (seriously think about it) - these two were one of my first ever book ships! And actually is one of those that stood the test of time. I still think Peeta was the best (and only) choice here - I have zero patience for Gale. I mostly enjoyed how different they were and how it complimented their relationship rather than distancing them from each other. Plus they were just cute.

2. Alina and The Darkling

DID NOT stand the test of time. I re-read these recently and mostly just got annoyed with later book Darkling. I still think he is one of the best villains ever and I of course have a book crush on him. But as a ship I no longer see anything there. Not that I like Mal either - I saw someone recently describe him as soggy bread and yes, exactly that. (I'm all about Nikolai now thank you).

3. Harry and Draco

Look the Harry Potter fandom was a weird place way back when. You ever read My Immortal? Cause yikes. Oh now I'm nostalgic for that as well. But in the dark recesses of my teenage mind Harry and Draco made all the sense. I still now, and forever, will maintain that Draco was the product of abusive parenting and had potential to grow (which I hope he did), but he was in no way in a place for a romantic relationship and teen me was weird. Side note though - I will forever believe that Draco had an unrequited crush on Harry and was very confused about it. 

Here are some other genuine ships that I was not into thank god: Hagrid/Hermione, Harry/Dumbledore, Draco/Apple (I mean what?) and of course the ever good Harry/The Floor. Just, what the hell was happening. 

4. Tessa and Will

I remember getting really needlessly worked up over the whole Will vs Jem debate. Now I'm like "why not both" and seriously - why not. There's even a line about them being perfectly fine with her loving both of them so I reckon they'd have been totally down for polyamory. I still love Will best though. Just saying.

5. Percabeth (Percy and Annabeth)

Forever and ever. Literally every relationship in every Riordan book tbh, including the best friendships. But Percabeth are the original and most nostalgic. I love them so much and I've put The House of Hades as my book to represent this because frankly them going through Tartarus was basically one of my favourite book things ever. 

Leave a link or a comment below so I can check out your Top 5's!! 

Top 5 Authors Whose Writing Talent I Want!!

You can find the group on goodreads here to check out monthly topics! This was an interesting topic for me. Ann and I are currently writing a book which we are loving. Side note - co-writing a book is such a weird process. Great to have that support but also way harder to get two brains on the same page. Literally. I found I didn't have to think very hard on this prompt, the authors and the parts of their writing I want came straight to mind which was nice! 

1) Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo is just incredible. I fangirl over her books so hard. Her Six of Crows duology may be my favourite fantasy books of all time. I want to write like her in terms of her characters. Morally grey, sometimes making seriously dodgy decisions but as a reader - impossible not to love! That's my favourite kind of character and she has mastered them! 

2) J.K. Rowling

I want Rowling's ability to craft a world. The Harry Potter universe feels so real to me and so magical. It's so perfectly built and described that I can picture it in my head super clearly. I would also love whatever magical quality she has that made her write a series that almost defined a generation and tied so many people together but that seems unlikely.

3) Philip Pullman

Sheer jealousy of his writing style here but also - he makes everything make sense. Anything could happen in his books and I'd think "yes of course". I don't know whether that's fully down to research or to immersing himself in his own world somehow but I want it. 

4) Cat Winters

Description. Cat Winters makes you see and smell and taste the world she is writing about. I always get lost in a Cat Winters book entirely, dead to the world don't even try to talk to me lost.

5) Anne Fortier

Anne Fortier has written only two books, Juliet and The Lost Sisterhood. But I loved them both. She can tell two stories at once and have them interlock perfectly. And I don't even prefer one story to the other. I love this format but its very rare that I don't prefer one half of the book to the other so I am super impressed by how she does this! 

Top 5 Favourite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels + Waiting On Wednesday

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. Ann is taking a break this week (well deserved I think) so I am taking over Top 5 Wednesday! It's been a while since I've done one of these but this is a topic I am excited for! 

1) Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

When this first came out I was skeptical but intrigued. I mean - I love Amie Kaufman and the format sounded interesting but it could so easily have gone wrong. Thankfully it did not. I love this book (and Gemina) so much and I can't wait for the third book.

2) Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I get the feeling this will be on  a lot of lists? Honestly this duology has kind of become my fantasy favourite. It's incredible and if you've read it then you definitely already know that and if you haven't? Why? Get on that!

3) The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan

Definitely one of the first fantasies I ever read (I used to be waaaay more into Historical fiction) and one that has influenced my taste a lot. I loved the world building and the character development and I always love it on re-reads as well. 

4) Starflight by Melissa Landers

If you liked These Broken Stars or Illuminae you would probably like Starflight. I honestly got it because hello beautiful cover! But then the story was just wonderful. I recently got the sequel Starfall and I think actually I might do a re-read of this first just because I loved the characters so much!

5) Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

OMG my love for this series is so huge. It's one I constantly recommend to anyone whether they're asking for recommendations or not. I've re-read it so many times and I never get tired of it. I love the Glass series as well (which is set in the same world) and honestly I will probably just read anything Snyder writes.

Waiting on Wednesday:

When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying's advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered.

For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study... as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don't loot everything first. Mia and Jules' different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance.

In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race's secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race...

I so, so, so nearly put These Broken Stars in my Top 5 - and honestly why didn't I just make it a Top 6? But Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner teaming up again makes me so happy. Plus this is described as Lara Croft IN SPACE. And I need that in my life. 

Released: January 9th 2018

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare), Facebook and Instagram to keep up with what we are reading. 

Top 5 Fictional Jobs I Really Want

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. I think that this is one of my favourite Top 5's because I love to imagine different fictional jobs that I could do!

1) Shadowhunter

I would love to be a Shadowhunter, I think that it would be so much fun to have runes and fight demons, it is just one of my favourite fictional jobs!

2)Warlock

I argued with Clare as to if this is actually a job but I think that it is because you could be a warlock and help people with issues and stuff so technically it is a job and I would love to have it as a job. Me and Clare have always said that we would love to be warlocks (even if Clare doesn't think it counts as a job).

3) Professor at Hogwarts

Can you imagine how much fun it would be to be a professor at Hogwarts, teaching young witches and wizards how to use their powers. It would be amazing! I mean - probably not Defense Against the Dark Arts though - that job never ends well!

4) Gamemaker in The Hunger Games

I couldn't think of this one at first but once I thought about it I realised that I would be really good at being a Gamemaker because I personally believe that I am a very creative person. 

5) An Auror from Harry Potter

This is another one that I couldn't think of at first but now that I think about it, it would also be a really fun job to have. I couldn't remember what it was called at first so I had to google it but I would love to be an Auror!

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare), Facebook and Instagram to keep up with what we are reading.

Top 5 Books To Get You Out Of A Reading Slump

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. I often find that rereading books is one of the best ways for me to get out of a reading slump. I love to reread all of my favourite books because they make me feel better.

1) The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

I only recently found out that this series helps me get out of reading slump and it is nice a quick to read so I can be more productive and read more!

2) City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

I love the City of Bones series and sometimes I will read a few chapters of it and it manages to bring me out of a reading slump which is always great.

3) Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

I love the girl online books and they are very quick and easy for me to read which is great because that means I have more time to read new books that I will also really enjoy.

4) Harry Potter by J.K Rowling

I think that everyone loves the Harry Potter series and that most people just enjoying reading them but for me they also help me get out of a reading slump and feel more like doing a lot of reading.

5) Magyk by Angie Sage

This is one of my favourite book series and it also helps to bring me out of a reading slump as well which is always great.

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading.

Top 5 Non-Written Novels

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. I have not read many non-written novels so this was actually a hard top 5 for me to come up with answers for.

1) Username: Evie by Joe Sugg

I was really excited to read this graphic novel and it was amazing I loved the characters and the plot so much!

2) Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

I read this so long ago that I forgot that I had read it until Clare reminded me today, but overall I absolutely loved it!

3) The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner

It turns out that I have this book in paper copy but I read it on audible and it was made so much better by the fact that it as read by Tom Hiddleston and who wouldn't love to have him read a book to them!

4) Wires and Nerves by Marissa Meyer

I am currently reading this at the moment and so I cant say anything about it yet but Clare has told me that it is amazing!

5) Username: Regenerated by Joe Sugg

I couldn't come up with a final answer and so I decided to use the second graphic novel written by Joe Sugg because it was as amazing as the first!

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading.

Top 5 Book Trends I Am Tired Of

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. I found this a very hard topic because I couldn't think of any book trends at first.

1) Teacher - Student Relationships

I don't really like teacher - student relationships they are kind of weird and awkward, I have read and enjoyed some books with them in but only when they are done really well.

2) Dystopian Worlds

I love dystopian books but I think that a lot of them sound very similar and most of the basic plots have been over done and it is getting frustrating now!

3) Time Travel

I really enjoy books with time travel in but I get very confused and bored of them sometimes when the time travel is being described and it is very difficult to understand sometimes which is really annoying!

4) Love Triangles

At first I really enjoyed love triangles because I loved trying to figure out who was going to end up with who. However now they just frustrate me, probably because I always think they will end differently which is annoying.

5) Instalove

I hate Instalove it is so annoying and unrealistic, you don't fall in love with someone as soon as you meet them it just doesn't happen ever and is so annoying in books when they try to make it seem realistic!

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading.

Top 5 Favourites That Are Not Books

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. I have a lot of things that I really like at the moment so it was tough narrowing it down to 5 of them!

1) Shadowhunters

I was not sure about this series at first but now I am really enjoying it although I am a little confused because they have gone a bit away from the plot of the books.

2) Smarties

I have not had smarties in a really long time but I recently started eating them again and I remembered how much I used to love them!

3) The Sims

The sims is so much fun and I can often end up spending hours playing it instead of doing homework which is problematic sometimes!

4) Pugs

Pugs are definitely my favourite type of dog because they are so cute but I do know that some people don't like them, I just personally think that they are adorable.

5) Fidget Cube

This is only something that I got recently to try and help with my anxiety and so far it has worked really well and I really love it!

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading

Top 5 Underrated Books

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. This took me a while to answer but I looked at books I have read on goodreads and managed to come up with 5 in the end! Since Clare already did a post on "hidden gems" I decided to go for a different interpretation of Underrated and look at books I think get more criticism than they perhaps deserve.

1) Magyk by Angie Sage

This is one of my favourite books and I love it! However all of my friends dislike it and I don't understand why! It is definitely an underrated book!

2) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

OK so not exactly an unknown book but definitely one I've seen people rate badly. I only read this recently and I think that it was better than I thought it would be and I only thought that it would be bad from what I heard about it and it really was not that bad.

3) Chime by Franny Billingsley

I read this a while ago, I think that I will probably reread it this year because I loved it. I do know that not many people have read it however.

4) The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi

I think that I was one of the only people at school who enjoyed this book series, I think that it annoyed a lot of people but I loved that it was just a quick and easy book to read which is nice to read sometimes!

5) The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks

I read this book in school when I borrowed it from the library and I really enjoyed it, however everyone else who read it just thought that it was a bit creepy and strange. I just think that it is an underrated book!

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading.

Top 5 Polarising Books

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. I found this a very hard topic so it took me a while to come up with 5 but I managed it in the end.

1) Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

I  have not yet ready Twilight but I know that it definitely is considered a polarising book and I really want to read it just see what it is like. I want to see whether I will like it or hate it.

2) Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

I loved beautiful creatures although the movie was terrible. However I know that there are some people who did not enjoy it!

3) Lord Of The Flies by William Golding

I had to read this book for homework at school, and I really did not enjoy it at all, but there were a few people in my class who really enjoyed it.

4) Magyk by Angie Sage

This is one of my favourite books, that I loved so much. However I know for a fact that one of my best friends does not enjoy it, I do not understand why but it is one of her least favourite books.

5) Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I have read this book a couple of times and I have managed to make a lot of my friends really enjoy it, however I do know that a lot of people don't like it as much as I do.

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading.

Top 5 Bookish Resolutions

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. I have a lot of goals for this year that I really want to achieve! Clare already did her Bookish Resolutions and you can find her post here. 

1) Read a classic a month

I was not sure whether I was going to do try to read a classic a month this year, but it will help me in my English GCSE so I am going to do my best! I've asked Clare for some Classic recommendations!

2) Write at least one review a month

As I read slower than Clare I write fewer reviews than she does, however I would love to be able to write at least one review a month which may be harder to do during some months when I have a lot of exams.

3) Go to YALC

Hopefully me, Clare and our brother John will be going to YALC this year and I am extremely excited to go as I think that it will be an incredible experience for us!

4) Read More

I know that this sounds like a vague goal but I really want to read a lot this year even though I have a lot of revision to do I hope to at least be able to commit more time to reading!

5) Read 55 books this year

This is my goodreads goal for this year and I think that it is achievable considering that I also have a lot if exams this year as it is the year that I take my GCSE's.

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading.

Top 5 Fictional Items I'd Give as Gifts

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. I soon as I heard this weeks top 5 I know that it would definitely be an easier one to do because there are so many fictional items that could be given as a gift, the difficult part was not making them all from Harry Potter!

1) A Wand

I know that this is a very obvious one but I think that everyone I know would love to receive a wand as a present!

2) Isabelle Lightwoods Whip 

I didn't want to go for all Harry Potter and I personally would love to receive this as a present and I know that at least one of my friends would love to get it as a gift for Christmas as well.

3) Seraph Blades

This is another item from Mortal Instruments which is a little bit weird but I think that they would make a great gift for someone who loves weapons (my twin). This would just be a more unusual and weird present than some of the other gifts.

4) A Flying Car

Who would not want to receive a flying car as a present? If someone I knew were to give me a flying car as a present, then they would definitely be the most amazing friend every. Although it might be a little bit expensive!

5) A Lightsaber

I would definitely buy one or more of my friends a Lightsaber if I could because I have always thought that they are the coolest things ever!

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading

Top 5 Series That Got Worse With Each Book/Season

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. At first I thought that I was going to struggle with this because I couldn't come up with any ideas but once I thought of one idea the rest just kept on coming. So here are my Top 5 picks.

1) Iron Fae Series by Julie Kagawa

I loved this series and all the characters but I did think that they tried to prolong the series too much and so the final few books were worse than the first few books.

2) Gossip Girls

I loved watching this series a lot but I got bored of it in the middle so didn't watch for a really long time, so it got a bit worse toward the end of the TV show.

3)Once Upon A Time

I didn't think of this one at first but then I realised that I took a really long break from watching it just because for me it got a bit boring but I know that other people loved it so this is just my opinion. I did love this show though!

4) Pretty Little Liars

This is one of my favourite TV shows but as much as I love it I think that it could have ended sooner because it is getting a little bit unrealistic.

5) Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

I loved this series but I believe that it got worse just because of the ending of the last book which really annoyed and upset me a lot making it less enjoyable for me, although as much as it annoyed me it was sort of a good ending to the series.

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading.

Top 5 Books I Want To Finally Read in 2017

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly feature and you can find the goodreads group here. This was an easier Top 5 for me this week as I have a lot of books on my shelves that I have yet to read. The only difficult part was narrowing it down!

1) Book Of Lies by Teri Terry

I have been meaning to read this book for a while now, because my Mum brought it for me ages ago and I still have not read it even though I loved the sound of it from the blurb so I would love to have read this next year.

2) Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian

This is another book that my mum brought for me, that I have also been meaning to read for a really long time but never got around to it, so I definitely plan on reading it for 2017.

3) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I am really curious about this series as I have seen all of the movies and they were alright so I have been meaning to try and read the book series for a while so I would love to try and read it in 2017.

4) An Abundance Of Katherines by John Green 

I tried to read this book a while ago but I didn't really get very far because I was in completely the wrong mood for it so I would love to try and read it again in 2017 and finally finish it!

5) Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen

I think that if I can finish this book then I will be pleased because I love reading classics but I have never managed to finish Pride and Prejudice but I have always wanted to. Clare loves Austen so I really want to give it a go.

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading.